Another possible U.S. port strike is looming later this month, which may seem like deja vu given it's only been three months since a work stoppage stemming from a labor dispute closed every major East and Gulf Coast port in October.
While that strike ended after three days with a tentative deal between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) that addressed some key issues, the sides face a January 15 deadline to resolve other concerns.
With the union and USMX resuming negotiations on Tuesday, January 7, the specter of another port shutdown is heightening concerns among economists, businesses and policy experts. To be sure, the dockworkers and port operators could reach an agreement ahead of the deadline, which occurs just days before President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for his second term.
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But if the union and the USMX are unable to reach a deal, more than 20,000 dockworkers could go on strike in mid-January, halting activities at ports from New York to Houston and potentially reducing the nation's economic activity by as much as $7.5 billion each week.
"[A] failure to reach an agreement and an extended strike similar to the one seen in West Coast ports in 2002 would begin to have a material financial effect on East and Gulf Coast ports," David Kamran, assistant vice president at Moody's Ratings, said Monday in an analysis of the simmering labor battle. "An extended strike would not only have an adverse effect on ports but could also impact the retail sector and shipping companies."
Source: cbsnews.com
